Joblessness is surging; Congress can play an important role in softening the blow. Rachel Greszler writes:
Unemployment claims spiked by 6.6 million last week, meaning more Americans became unemployed during one week than the total already unemployed before COVID-19 hit the U.S.
This marks a 3,000% increase compared to the levels of February’s weekly initial claims of unemployment, and it means the unemployment rate likely is around 9.7%—approaching three times the record-low 3.5% in February.
A lot has happened since last week’s unemployment claims were recorded.
For starters, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the CARES Act, including provisions intended to prevent unemployment as well as a counterproductive incentive to increase unemployment.
And then the president announced a 30-day extension to the nation’s “slow the spread” guidelines, with governors across many states continuing exceptional measures, including school and business closures.
If April 30 remains the date at which some businesses begin opening back up again, many of them may be able to keep their workers employed even if they’re not working temporarily.
[Rachel Greszler , "How Patriotic American Businesses Are Stepping Up To Beat The Wuhan Virus,” The Daily Signal, April 2]
